


Incompatible

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 06:17:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15213008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Written for the TSCC prompt 'family'





	Incompatible

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the TSCC prompt 'family'

Incompatible

When Joan Carruthers told her boyfriend that she was pregnant, he was somewhat taken aback. They had always taken precautions. However, he knew that no contraceptive was 100% guaranteed - and he was quite sure that the child was his.

"Pregnant? You're sure?"

"I've missed two periods, Simon. And I've seen a doctor, and she confirmed it."

"Joan - we have to get married as soon as possible. Yes, I know that sounds a little old-fashioned, but it's how I feel."

Yes, it was how he felt, though he was not entirely happy with the situation. He was fond enough of Joan, but would have been happy to continue as her boyfriend, rather than as her husband; he suspected that she would not be easy to live with. However, he was not willing to let his child's mother be known as unmarried, as his own mother was. He was not willing to have his child called a bastard, as he had been. Bad enough the problems he - or she - would have through having black skin.

His grandparents had been very supportive, but Simon knew from experience how difficult life could be for a fatherless child.

***

He was right; Joan was not easy to live with.

When he had only seen her for two or three hours at a time, she had been good company; living with her was a completely different matter. She expected him to cater to her every whim, because "It's a husband's duty to keep his wife happy."

He could only hope that she would become a little less demanding when the child was born. He wasn't sure that she would, though - from what he had seen of her parents, her father spent much of his time trying to keep _his_ wife happy. _  
_

***

The child was a boy, and Joan insisted on calling him Daryl (which Simon privately thought was a sissy name) after her favorite uncle who had died in Vietnam. The youngest of her family, she hadn't been sure how she would react to having a child, but quickly discovered that she loved Daryl and was happy to have a child to care for.

Much to his own surprise, Simon, who also had absolutely no experience of babies, found that he loved his son very much. He wanted to provide more for Daryl, so he began working longer hours for the extra money that gave him.

Joan was not pleased.

Although she appreciated the extra money, she wanted her husband at home more than he was. She did love him, but had no idea how to show it in a way he would understand. She followed her mother's example - demanding attention to show much she loved and depended on her husband; but that attitude alienated Simon, and as the months and years passed he found himself more and more willing to work overtime so that he could spend less and less time at home. Seeing so much less of Daryl was painful but, he realized, it was a price he was willing to pay to see less of Joan.

Odd how the - yes, dependent attitude that had originally attracted him to her had become an irritant when he had to live with it every day.

***

His promotion to Captain of Major Crime was, for Joan, the last straw. She guessed (correctly) that the responsibilities of his new position would lead him to work longer and even longer hours, and so she applied for a divorce.

She wasn't completely sure how she would manage living on her own with a son just entering the rebellious teens - but then she realized she was doing that anyway, Simon was so rarely at home.

Simon chose not to fight the divorce; he only fought for reasonable access to Daryl. He knew that the court would see the mother as a better guardian than the father who worked long hours. Even if Daryl had been asked which parent he wanted to live with, Simon suspected that Daryl would choose his mother, because he saw more of her. The one thing he was afraid of was that Joan would try to persuade Daryl that his father didn't want him.

He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't.

Because of Daryl, Simon and Joan had to remain in semi-frequent contact, finding that once they were no longer living in the same house it was reasonably easy to exist on surprisingly friendly terms.

But of one thing both were sure; nothing would ever persuade them to live together again.


End file.
